Kosala is also famous as the early home of Buddhism, and of the kindred religion of Jainism, and claims to be the birthplace of the founders of both these faiths.
It was in the reign of Bimbisara that Vardhamana Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, and Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, preached in Magadha, and Buddhist missionaries issued thence to the conversion of China, Ceylon, Tibet and Tatary.
Hinduism and Jainism advocate vegetarianism out of respect for all life.
Jainism purports to be the system of belief promulgated by Vaddhamana, better known by his epithet of Maha-vira (the great hero), who was a contemporary of Gotama, the Buddha.
It is doubtful if Buddhism, and still more so if Jainism and Sikhism, all of which are commonly recognized as distinct religions, ever differed from Hinduism to a greater extent than did the tenets of the earlier followers of Chaitanya in Bengal or those of the Lingayats in Mysore; and yet these latter two are regarded only as sects of Hinduism.
